National Bank said late Wednesday that its covered bond issuance attracted a diverse pool of interest amounting to around 2 billion europs from more than 110 institutional investors. The vast majority of interest, of 85%, came from international investors. Recall that NBG raised 750 million euros through its 3-year covered bond which yielded 2.90%.

NBG said that the transaction was led by UK & Ireland based accounts, 46% of allocations, while 15% was allocated to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 14% to Italy, 14% to Greece, 6% to Nordics and 5% to other European countries.

“The transaction also saw significant demand from Asset Managers with 56% allocated while 17% went to Banks and Private Banks, 14% to Hedge funds, 11% to Central Banks/Official Institutions and 2% to other investors,” NBG said in a bourse filing.

“The transaction serves towards NBG's strategic objective to re-establish a recurring presence in the international capital markets and will accelerate the disengagement from the Emergency Liquidity Assistance, normalizing its funding profile,” it said.